Baling Hay

A friend of mine on Facebook posted a simple request this weekend. "Anyone bored? Come help me bale some hay." Unfortunately for him the only help he got were some smart aleck responses mostly focused around showing up after he was done.

His post reminded me of growing up. We baled a lot of hay on the farm. Either for our animals or for others. One thing you have to do is bale the hay while it is dry. Otherwise it rots in the barn and the bales are darn heavy. So you make hay while the sun shines as the old expression goes. This is much like a job search. When you see opportunities you have to take advantage of them and you can't do it half way. You have to commit to finishing it while the sun is up or you may miss your chance.

Another thing it made me think of is storing up for when things aren't so plentiful. Farmers store hay to get through the winter or times when grass won't grow. Kind of a safety net. This is a lot like a rainy day fund. I don't know how much hay to store up but I know if I don't have 6 months of hay in my barn it is time to get baling.

The last thing was the hay loft. There are few smells that are better on earth. The dry hay stacked tall to the roof of the barn. Stacking in the barn was often the hardest part. No wind to cool you off on a hot summer afternoon and often having to throw bales over your head to get them stacked right. But I remember the feeling at the end of the day when the last rack was unloaded to sit in the door of the barn and smell the hay as you are hit by the first breath of cooler air and the satisfaction of having completed the task.

Much like our professional lives, we do a lot of hard work but often don't take the time to smell the hay or put some away for a rainy day. Not to call bosses cows but it is kind of ironic that farmers often call cows "Boss" or "Bossy". Another bit of irony is that neither of them often appreciate the hard work we do for them but at the end of the day we have to keep both happy or we don't eat.